Brake beam



F. SCHAEFER Oct. 25, 1949.

BRAKE BEAM Filed May 22, 1947 29 za'l va z z' z w x4 5% Z z f w QMSPatented Oct. 25, 1949 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 3 Claims.

The invention relates to railway car brake beams and, more particularly,to truss type beams which are slidably supported in the side frames of acar truck.

It is among the objects of this invention to provide such a beam with animproved construction.

According to this invention, the brake beam, which is adapted to beslidably supported in pairs of beam-supporting ledges provided on a cartruck, includes a compression member on each end of which is mounted abrake head, and a tension member the ends of which are secured to thebrake heads. Each head also has a slot extending into it from its innerside, the slot being disposed in the plane of the beam and receiving theends of the tension rod. Each end of the rod is provided with an openingaligned with openings through the slot walls above and below it toreceive a fastening member which secures the rod and brake headtogether. To support the beam, each of the brake heads is pro- Videdwith a lug which projects laterally and is slidably received between theadjoining pair of truck ledges. Preferably, each brake head has acentral rectangular body from one side of which thelug projects betweenthe ledges, and from the other side of which a tongue projects laterallyinto the adjoining end of the compression member in tight engagementwith it. By extending the upright webs, which connect the back of theshoe-supporting portion of the head with the top and bottom of the headbody, from approximately the Vertical center line of said portiondiagonally across the body toward the compression member, room isprovided between the rear ends of the webs and the lug for the fasteningmember that passes through the tension rod.

The preferred embodiment of the invention is illustrated in theaccompanying drawings of which Fig. 1 is a fragmentary plan view of thebrake beam supported in a car truck; Fig. 2 is an enlarged horizontalsection through one end of the beam; Fig. 3 is an end view of the beamwith its upper part shown in section; and Fig. 4 is a section on theline IV-IV of Fig. 2.

Referring to the drawings, a truss type brake beam lis shown supportedby a pair of ledges or short tracks 2 formed on a car truck side frame3. The brake beam includes a hollow or channel-like compression member 4and a tension rod 5 spaced apart at the center in the lcustomary mannerby strut 6. Brake heads 1 are disposed at each end of the compressionmember (Cl. ISS-233.3)

and carry brake shoes 8 which, upon movement of the beam forward, engagethe car Wheels 9.

Each brake head has a generally rectangular body from the front of whichthe usual shoesupporting portion |2 extends upward and down- Ward. Thisportion is reinforced by upright webs |3 integral with it and with thetop and bottom of the body. Projecting laterally from the inner side ofthebody, near its rear end, is a tongue |4 that extends into theadjoining end of the compression member and engages its inner surface,as shown in Fig. 2. The outer surface of the tongue vconforms in generalcontour to the adjoining inner surface of the compression member, andthese two elements are of such size as to require the tongue to bedriven into the compression member, Whereby a wedge fit is provided. Thebrake head is provided with a recess |6 at the base of the tongue toreceive the end of the compression member, and a rivet I'l may extendthrough compression member and tongue to lock them together.

The brake head body is formed from upper and lower spaced parallel walls|8 integrally connected by a front wall l9, an outer Wall 20 and aninner back corner portion 2|. There is thus formed in the body of thehead a slot 22, the entrance to which extends along the inner side ofthe head from the tongue to the front wall.

The plane of the slot lies in the plane of the beam which is radial ofthe Wheels. One end of tension rod '5 extends into this slot, and isupset and fiattened to provide parallel upper and lower surfacesadjacent the inner surfaces of walls |8, and to provide plenty of metalaround the opening 23 through the upset end. Aligned with this openingare openings 24 through the upper and lower walls of the slot, as shownin Fig. 3.

In order to be able to locate these head openings in a position thatwill permit the upset end of the tension rod to be disposed inside ofthe head body, webs |3 are not parallel to the sides of the head, as inthe usual brake head, but, as shown in Fig. 1, extend diagonally acrossit from the Vertical center line of the shoe-supporting portion |2towards the inner rear corner of the head. This allows openings 24 to bepositioned much farther inward from the outer side of the brake headbody than otherwise would be the case.

The fastening member that extends through aligned openings 23 and 24includes a sleeve 26 that does not project from the body of the head,and a bolt 21 extending through the sleeve and through Washers 28 at itsends. nut 29 IS screwed onto the lower end of the bolt. Due to thisarrangement, openings 24 can be large enough for a fastening member ofthe necessary diameter, and yet can be located close to webs 13, becausethe relatively small bolt has a head and nut of small enough radius tofit into the spaces between the webs and the centers of the openings.The body of the head can not be made wder in .order to provide more roomin it for the tension rod and fastening member, because ledges 2 are inthe way. The fastening member serves as a pivot around which the rod canturn when the beam is fiexed.

This brake beam, instead of being supported by conventional swinginghangers, is supported by ledges 2. For this purpose each brake head hasintegrally connected to outer wall 20 of its body a lug 3| that projectslaterally between the adjacent ledges on the side frame. This lug isfiat With parallel upper and lower surfaces and, like islot :22, itliesin 4the plane of the beam. The lug sli'des 'back and forth betweenthe ledges which are in'clined fso that the vinclined beam will 'slideaway from .the wheelswhen the brakes are released.

.According to the provisions of the patent statutes, I have expla'inedthe princip-le and'mode of :operation of my inventi'on, 'and haveillustrated vand descrbed `what .I :now consider to represent its best.'embodiment. .'However, I desire to have vit l:understand that, withinthe 'scope of the ap- :pended .claims, the 'invention `may be practiced.otherwise lth'a'n .as specifi'cally illustrated and described.

I c'laimf:

V1. A brake beam for use with a car truck provided 'with 'pairs ofbeam-supporting ledges, said beam comprising a compression member, abrake 'head disp'osed at each end of said member, each -'head beingprovided at one side with a tongue projecting laterally into theadj'oining end of the compression member in tight engagement there-'with and -at the other side with a laterally projec'ting solid lu'gadapted to be slidably supported by the adjoin'ing pair of ledges, eachhead having a l'slot extending into it from its tongue side and disposedin the plane of the beam, a tension rod having its ends projecting intothe slots fin the heads, each end of the rod and the slot walls above'and below it being provided with aligned opening's between the adjacentlug and 'end of the compression member, 'and fastening members in saidopenings securing the 'tension rod and brake heads together. i

2. Abrake beam for use with a car truck provided `with pairs of`beam-supporting ledges, said beam comprising 'a compression member, abrake head mounted on each end of said member and having va centralrectangular body and a shoesupporting porti'on extending above and belowthe 'front end of said body, said head being pro- 'vided 'with uprigihtstrengthening webs integrally connecting the back 'of 'saidshoe-supporting portion with the top and bottom of said body andextending from approximately the Vertical center line of said portiondiagonally across the body toward the compression member, said bodybeing providedintegrally with an outwardly projecting lug disposed inthe plane of the beam and adapted to be slidably supported by theadjoining pair of ledges, each of said bodies having a slot extendinginto it `from its inner side and disposed in 'the plane of the beam,'the top and "bottom walls of each slot 'being `provided beyond thecompression member with a pair of aligned `openings near therear end ofsaid body and "c'lo'se to said webs between them and said lug, a tensionrod having its ends located in the slots 'in the `'heads and providedwith openings regis- :tering with said aligned openings, and fasteningmembers extend'ing through said openings for conn'ecting the tension rodand brake heads together.

:3. A brake beam 'for luse 'with va car truck 'provided 'with pairs ofbeam-supporting ledges, sai'd beam comprising 'a compression member, abrake head mounted on each end :of said .member and :having a centralrectangular body and a shoesupporting porton 'extending above and :belowthe front end of said body, said head being ;prolvided with upright.strengthening webs integrally |connecti'ng the 'back-'of'saidfsh'oe-supporting portion with the top and 'bottom lzof said bodyand extending .from approximately the Vertical center line ofsaidjportion diagonally across the body toward lthe Icompression member,'said body being provided integrally with 'an outwa-rdly projecting lugdisposed ifn the plane of the .beam .and

.adapted `to be .slidably .supported 'by -the adjoining :pair of ledgeS,each of said bodies having a slot :extend'ing -into it rfrom its -i'nnerside and -d'is- 'posed in the :plane of the beam, the top and :bot-

tom walls `of .each slot being provided with va pair .of alignedopenings near the rear end of `said body and close to said webs betweenthem and said lug, :a tension rod having its ends located fin the slotsin the heads and provided with 'openings registerng With said aligned'openings, a sleeve disposed in `each tension rod lopening and extendinginto the 'adjacent 7head openings for connecti-ng the head l:and 'rodtogether, a bolt-ex'- tending through 'each -sleeve to .hold it in plac.and a nut screwed-onto `the bolt.

lFlREDllZRIC 'SCH'AE'FER REFERENCES CITED rThe following references arel'of record in the 'filfe of this paitent':

.STATE'S .PATENTS Number Name Date 690,548 Baker Jan.'7,.'19022,408,`01f5 .Busse Sept. 24, "1946 2,398,917 .Busch Apr. 23, .19462,4'55316 VS'chaefer Nov. f30, 1:94'8

